Self-lifting sadiron



Patented Aug. 20, 1940 UNITED STATES SELF-LIFTING SADIRON Irving P. Simonsen, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to Continental Fire-Proof Iron Corp., a cor poration of Arizona:

Application December 24, 1935, Serial No. 55,972

Renewed January 23, 1940 6 Claims. (CI. 38-79) This invention relates to and has for an object the provision of a lifting device applicable to various types and forms of sadirons, electrically heated or otherwise, whereby when pressure on the iron is released the same will be automatically lifted for a substantial distance above the level of a supporting surface, such as an ironing board, thereby'preventing damage to the board or surface.

Another object is to provide an improved type of lifting device which will embody a minimum number of parts and will operate in a simple and efficient manner and, preferably, including a handle for the iron which is pivotally supported at one of its ends,-a pair of laterally positioned lifts operatively associated with and adapted .to be depressed into position for supporting the iron body off of the ironing board as the handle is swung upwardly to inoperative position and movable upwardly to inoperative position as said handle is moved downwardly to operatively position the iron on the board for use.

A further object is to provide a lever in as- 5 sociation with and preferably normally enclosed by the lower portion of the handle for locking the handle in depressed position for holding the iron on a supporting surface and also for lifting the iron bodily while the handle is still depressed.

Other objects will appear as the description progresses.

I have shown a preferred form of devicelembodying my invention in the accompanying drawing, in which: I

Fig. 1 is a top plan view on a relatively small scale;

Figs. 2, 3, and 4, are, respectively, sectional elevations on line 2-2- of Fig. 1 showing the iron in elevated position; midway between operative and inoperative position, and completely depressed to operative position;

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation of the same on line 5-5 of Fig. 2; I

Fig. 6 is a transverse section of the iron handle on line 6-6 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the locking means.

Briefly described,

my improvements are employed in connection with a conventional iron 50 having a flat'base A and a sheet metal cover B usually and preferably of the electrically heated type of iron, the conventional handle of the iron being omitted and an improved type of specially designed ironing handle C being provided in lieu thereof..-

My improvements include, in addition to handle C, a hooded housing D which is superposed on and suitably attached to the rear portion-of the iron body B, a pair of laterally positioned lifting bars E, E, on opposite sides of the. iron body 5 and operatively associatedwith handle C, and a locking lever F mounted on the handle.

Housing D has spaced sides I, l, a front wall 2, and a rear wall 3 which flares outwardly at the bottom to provide a heel portion 4 so formed 10 as to prevent the iron being tipped over backwardly. The extremities of front wall 2 and rear wall 3 may be formed as shown in Fig. 2 with their ends extended through apertures in the iron body B and then bent inwardly and secured to 15 said body by suitable means.

Handle C ispivotally held on the housing D by means of a bolt 5 extended through and secured to the sides of the housing. It will be noted that handle C is supported only at one end, that 20 .is on bolt 5, and is adapted to be swung into operative position manually as the forward portion of the handle is gripped. Lifting bars E; E, are

of like form and size and are pivotally mounted on a common axis by means of a transverse bolt 5 6 held in the sides l, l, of housing D. Said bars have feet 1 which overlie and substantially par-- allel the margins of the iron body B and exten-- sions 8 which extend upwardly and inwardly from the rear extremities of the feet I over the top 30 surface of the iron body and which are bent just inwardly of the sides I of housing D through which they extend and thence upwardly at 9. Portions 9 are bored to receive the hinge bolt 6 and are cut on their upper edges at W. to form 3 cam tracks. The lifting arms are tensioned so as to be normally urged downwardly by means of springs ll having their inner extremities secured to the bolt 8 and their outer extremities extended over and bent around the upper portions 901 40 the bars E. The tension of springs H may be 'varied by rotating the bolt 6 and locking'the same against housing D by the friction of a nut, as at H3, or otherwise.

The inner end of handle C carries a metal plate M with spaced furcations I5, IE, to the ends of which a transverse shaft I6 is attached for supedge thereof will be enclosed by the handle and is pivotally held at it on said handle near the rear extremity of said recess. Lever F is formed on its upper edge with an arcuate peripheral portion 28 and the rear end of recess E8 is similarly formed so that when the lever is extended, as shown in Fig. 3, corresponding portions of the recess and lever will engage, there being sufiicient clearance between said recess and the rear edge of the lever to permit relative movement between the lever and the handle as hereinafter described. It will be noted that the axis of the lever F is slightly forward of the axis of handle C so that the depression of the handle will also effect the .depression of the lever under all conditions.

The lever F has a shoulder portion 2| and a heel portion 22 which are substantially at right angles to each other and move in a path intermediate the furcations l5 of plate I4 attached to handle C. Said lever is tensioned against the handle C by means of a compression spring 23 seated in a bore of the handle and having its lower end engaging the upper surface of heel 22 of lever F, thereby normally urging the lever up wardly into its seat in recess I8.

Lever F is arranged for locking engagement with a latch plate 24 pivotally held at 25 on the front wall 2 of housing D by a suitably arranged spring 26 so that when handle C is depressed to operative position, as shown in Fig. 4, the shoulder 2| of lever F will engage the inner face of latch 24 and as long as said lever is thus held the handle 0 may not be restored to normally inoperative position. Thus, lever F is effective for locking the handle downwardly so that the handle may be used as in other types of irons for carrying the iron from place to place.

Suitable apertures 21 are provided in the sides I of the housing D through which the bars E extend and are movable to a necessary extent and the lift attachment is applied to the iron' body at such a point that the iron is balanced sufiiciently to remain in 'its elevated position when supported on the bars E as shown in Fig. 2. The handle attachment, however, being secured to the iron 'body at a'point rearwardly of the center of gravity the iron bearing the attachment is prone to tip backwardly when the handle is released and the bars are formed at the rear extremities of the feet ,1 so the iron will gradually assume an upright position. i

In operation, the base A of the iron is normally supported by bars E at a distance of approximately three fourths of an inch from a supporting surface H, as said bars are extended forwardly beyond the center of gravity of the iron. The iron is depressed to operative engagement with the supporting surface by gripping handle C and moving the same downwardly, until the base A is engaged with and rests upon the surface H, the fingers of the hand being then extended under the lower edge of lever F so as to hold the same within its recess l8 in the handle and prevent the lever from unlocking the handle. it being understood that at such time the shoulder 2| of the lever has been moved into locking engagement with the latch 24. When so held the iron may be lifted and carried from place to place by means of handle C as in conventional types of irons in which the handles are usually stationary. Release of pressureon lever F and the complete or partial release of handle C will result in the elevation of the iron bodily from its supporting surface by reason of the tension of springs I moving lifting bars E, E, in a counterclockwise direction, said movement of the lifting bars also elevating the handle C by reason of the engagement of cam tracks Ill with rollers Lever F tends to move in a clockwise direction with the handle by reason of spring 23 but is temporarily prevented from doing so by reason of the continued engagement of shoulder 2| with latch plate 24; therefore the lever remains (as shown in Fig. 3) in its lowered position until the upward movement of pivot i9, with the handle, has raised the shoulder such distance as will permit heel 22 to over-ride the latch plate, thereby permitting the restoration of the lever to recess it which position insures against any pinching of an operator's hand when the handle is again depressed. It should be noted that upon the initial upward movement of handle C the shoulder 2| engaging with plate 24 causes the lever F to rock on its pivot l9 in such a manner that the said shoulder is raised and the heel 22 will extend into the recess 22'-ln the handle. This movement of the lever F presents the shoulder at such an angle that it will act as a cam and ride over the upper edge of plate 24, and the parts will assume the position'shown in Figs. 3 and 7 with the heel 22 counter-sunk in said recess and concentric with the curved surface 20' of said handle and the shoulder 2| free to ride clear of the plate 24. The lever F now moves with the handle and when the shoulder 2| is clear of plate 24 the spring 23 moves the lever into the handle recess 23 as shown in Fig. 2.

It is important to note that the handle C will be locked in ironing position free of the tension of the springs H, and the lift means will be locked in retracted position when the operator grips the handle in the ordinary manner and at the time of completion of the movement of the handle into ironing position. This locking action is maintained while the operator grips the handle inasmuch as the engagement of the fingers with the lever F on the under side of the handle will hold the lever in looking position.

In ironing and when lifting the iron the same grip is used and therefore the iron is maintained looked as aforesaid in response to such a grip.

What I claim is:

1. A. sadiron comprising: a base, an ironing handle adjustable thereon into and out of ironing position, means controlled by the adjustment of said handle for raising and supporting said base out of contact with a supporting surface and which moves said handle out of ironing position when said base is raised, and means for locking said handle in adjusted position for retaining said handle in fixed relation to said base, said looking means including a lever pivoted on and movable relative to the underside of said handle and means on said base engageable with said lever.

2. A sadiron comprising: a base, an ironing handle pivotally held at an end thereon into and out of ironing position, a pair of lifts at the sides of said base pivotally mounted thereon for extension and retraction, means carried and actuated by. said handle engageable yet unconnected with and for retracting said lifts when said handle is swung to operative position, and means for tensioning said handle and said lifts whereby the same may be restored to normally inoperative position when haid handle is released.

3. A sadiron comprising: a base, an ironing handle pivotally held at an end thereon, a pair of lifts at the sides of said base pivotally mounted thereon for extension and retraction, means carried and actuated by said handle for retracting said lifts when said handle is swung to operative position, a locking lever pivoted on said handle, and a yieldable latch carried by said base and engageable with said lever, adjacent the pivoted end of the handle for retaining said handle and lifts in operative position at will. 4. A sadiron comprising: an iron body, a housing superposed thereon at the rear of said iron, a handle pivotally attached at an end to said housing, a pair of lifts pivotally attached to said housing and having feet disposed at the sides of said body for normally supporting said body out of contact with a supporting surface, means in said housing and connected with said handle and with said lifts for retracting said lifts when said handle is depressed and causing the extension of said lifts when said handle is restored to raised position, for the purpose described, and means connected with said handle and with said housing for locking said lifts in retracted position and said handle in depressedposition.

5. A sadiron comprising: an iron body, a housing superposed thereon at the rear of said iron, a handle pivotally attached at an end to said housing, a pair of lifts pivotally attached to said housing and having feet disposed at the sides of said body for normally supporting said body out of contact with a supporting surface, means in said housing connected with said handle and with said lifts for retracting said lifts when said handle is depressed and causing the extension of said lifts when said handle is restored to raised position, for the purpose described, and means connected with said handle and with said housing for locking said lifts in retracted position and said handle in depressed position, said locking means including a lever carried by said handle and a latch carried by said housing adapted to be operatively engaged when said handle is depressed.

'6. In a self-lifting sadiron, a base, an ironing handle pivotally connected at one end with said base on an axis extending transversely to the longitudinal axis thereof, being free at its other end and having a recess extending lengthwise in its under side, lift means controlled by movement of the handle, and means for locking the handle in ironing position including an elongated locking member extending in parallel relation to said handle in said recess in position to be held and released when the handle is gripped and released respectively.

IRVING P. SIMONSEN. 

